Comments on: Friday Afternoon Movie: Halloween Double Feature http://coilhouse.net/2009/10/friday-afternoon-movie-halloween-double-feature/ Coilhouse Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:00:47 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: jp http://coilhouse.net/2009/10/friday-afternoon-movie-halloween-double-feature/comment-page-1/#comment-23336 jp Fri, 30 Oct 2009 22:13:29 +0000 http://coilhouse.net/?p=10834#comment-23336 The tuxedo and bear suit guys are my creep-out moment, too. It's my go-to retort when people say the movie is too cerebral or not scary. "What about the guy in the bear suit?" I say. Then I start shaking uncontrollably. The tuxedo and bear suit guys are my creep-out moment, too. It’s my go-to retort when people say the movie is too cerebral or not scary. “What about the guy in the bear suit?” I say. Then I start shaking uncontrollably.

]]> By: Joshua Ellis http://coilhouse.net/2009/10/friday-afternoon-movie-halloween-double-feature/comment-page-1/#comment-23333 Joshua Ellis Fri, 30 Oct 2009 20:05:48 +0000 http://coilhouse.net/?p=10834#comment-23333 The bear suit (acually a dog suit) guy is part of the book's plot, not the movie. I've never understood why Kubrick put that shot in there, but it scared the SHIT out of me when I saw it as a kid. I'm a big fan of the novel THE SHINING, which I think is one of King's best novels from a literary perspective. The movie just guts the novel completely, but I think I've finally begun to understand what Kubrick was doing, and appreciate it on its own terms. His stated goal was to make a horror film with *no suspense*. That's why he hired Jack to play the main character; he wanted you to know, from the moment you laid eyes on him, that he was going to snap. And the only really suspenseful moment in the film is when Scatman Crothers takes an axe to the gut. (Another thing that's not in the book, btw; that character survives.) The bear suit (acually a dog suit) guy is part of the book’s plot, not the movie. I’ve never understood why Kubrick put that shot in there, but it scared the SHIT out of me when I saw it as a kid.

I’m a big fan of the novel THE SHINING, which I think is one of King’s best novels from a literary perspective. The movie just guts the novel completely, but I think I’ve finally begun to understand what Kubrick was doing, and appreciate it on its own terms.

His stated goal was to make a horror film with *no suspense*. That’s why he hired Jack to play the main character; he wanted you to know, from the moment you laid eyes on him, that he was going to snap. And the only really suspenseful moment in the film is when Scatman Crothers takes an axe to the gut. (Another thing that’s not in the book, btw; that character survives.)

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